Get exclusive healthy living offers and guides

How can your get treatment for Rheumatoid Arthritis?

Find out all you need to know about rheumatoid arthritis, its symptoms and treatments.

We often think of arthritis as a single disease, but the term actually covers more than 100 conditions that affect the musculoskeletal system, especially the joints. The most common forms of arthritis include osteoarthritis, gout and rheumatoid arthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that affects hundreds of thousands of Australians. The disease attacks a person’s joints, causing swelling, tenderness and pain.

This article looks into the causes of rheumatoid arthritis and takes a closer look at the options available to help treat and manage the condition.

Health Insurance Reforms coming April 2019

Each of these tiers includes cover for a minimum number of clinical categories. If you wish to continue to claim benefits for arthritis, you will need a policy of Bronze tier or higher. However, while this may cover large operations and medical devices, it is unlikely to provide much financial support for ongoing multi-modal assessments and treatments.

What is in this article?

This results in inflammation, swelling, tenderness and pain in the affected joints, which can eventually wear away the cartilage covering the ends of your bones and erode the bones themselves. The sheaths around tendons can also suffer inflammation due to rheumatoid arthritis, and in rare cases the lungs are affected.

It’s not fully known why people develop rheumatoid arthritis and sufferers can develop the condition at any age. The condition is three times more likely to affect women than men and some people are more genetically predisposed to developing the condition. Factors such as smoking and a number of infections and viruses can trigger rheumatoid arthritis, but investigation into the causes of the condition is continuing.

Rheumatoid arthritis is currently the second most common form of arthritis in Australia and there is no cure.

Symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis can produce a long list of symptoms. The following symptoms are the most common:

The symptoms and their severity vary from person to person. There may also be times when your rheumatoid arthritis is fairly quiet and other times when the condition flares up.

Treatment of rheumatoid arthritis

There are several options available to help you manage and treat your rheumatoid arthritis. The first step is to seek medical advice as soon as you exhibit symptoms. Your doctor will refer you to a specialist (a rheumatologist) who can offer advice and assistance on the best treatment options.

Although there is no cure for rheumatoid arthritis, here are some of the ways you can manage the condition:

Medication

Your rheumatologist may prescribe different medications to help reduce inflammation and prevent joint damage, but the drugs prescribed will vary depending on the severity of your condition:

Disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) combat the abnormal functioning of the immune system that causes rheumatoid arthritis.

Biological DMARDs are a new type of medicine that block the progress of the condition in your immune system.

Over-the-counter painkillers such as paracetamol can also relieve pain.

Lifestyle

Exercise helps build muscle strength and maintain flexibility in your joints, but you need to balance exercise with plenty of rest to manage fatigue and to give stiff joints a break.

A healthy balanced diet will help maintain good health and ensure that you don’t put on excess weight (which can place further pressure on your joints).

There are walking aids and other pieces of equipment (such as cooking utensils) to help reduce pain.

Therapy

A physiotherapist can offer useful advice on how to manage pain, how to modify your activity to control rheumatoid arthritis, and how to exercise to promote strong and healthy joints.

An occupational therapist can help you manage fatigue and provide tips on how you can modify your daily activities at work and at home to better control the condition.

Complementary therapies

Massage, acupuncture and aromatherapy may all help relieve pain and allow you to feel more relaxed. Even using simple relaxation techniques can help you manage the pain of rheumatoid arthritis on a day-to-day basis.

Surgery

Thanks to improvements in medical treatments, surgery to treat rheumatoid arthritis is less commonly used these days. However, in some cases your doctor may recommend surgery such as a joint replacement, removal of an inflamed joint’s lining, removal of inflamed tendons, or fusing a joint to increase its strength.

Asking for help

Contact the peak arthritis body in your state or territory for information on support groups in your area. There are also self-management courses available (some of which may be covered by your private health fund) to help people manage chronic conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis stats

Loading...

Speak to a health insurance advisor

Need help now? Enter your details for a call back about your health insurance options. An expert can help you compare up-to-date policies from eight funds to see which one is best for you.

Content on this website is provided for education and information purposes only. Information about a therapy, service, product or treatment is not an endorsement and does not imply its appropriateness for your circumstances. Our information is not intended to replace advice from your doctor or other registered health professional and you should not rely on this general information for diagnosis or answers for your particular circumstances. Instead seek advice from a registered health care professional. This content has been prepared for Australian audiences and was accurate at the time of publication but, over time, the currency and completeness of the published material may change.

Tim Falk is a writer for Finder, writing across a diverse range of topics. Over the course of his 15-year writing career, Tim has reported on everything from travel and personal finance to pets and TV soap operas. When he’s not staring at his computer, you can usually find him exploring the great outdoors.

Disclaimer - Hive Empire Pty Ltd (trading as finder.com.au, ABN: 18 118 785 121) provides factual information, general advice and services on financial products as a Corporate Authorised Representative (432664) of Advice Evolution Pty Ltd AFSL 342880. Please refer to our FSG - Financial Products. We also provide general advice on credit products under our own Credit Licence ACL 385509. Please refer to our Credit Guide for more information. We can also provide you with general advice and factual information on about a range of other products, services and providers. We are also a Corporate Authorised Representative of Countrywide Insurance Group Pty Limited. ABN 49 625 733 539 AFSL 511363 for the provision of general insurance products. Please refer to our FSG - General Insurance. We hope that the information and general advice we can provide will help you make a more informed decision. We are not owned by any Bank or Insurer and we are not a product issuer or a credit provider. Although we cover a wide range of products, providers and services we don't cover every product, provider or service available in the market so there may be other options available to you. We also don't recommend specific products, services or providers. If you decide to apply for a product or service through our website you will be dealing directly with the provider of that product or service and not with us. We endeavour to ensure that the information on this site is current and accurate but you should confirm any information with the product or service provider and read the information they can provide. If you are unsure you should get independent advice before you apply for any product or commit to any plan. (c) 2019.

Thank you for your feedback.

Our goal is to create the best possible product, and your thoughts, ideas and suggestions play a major role in helping us identify opportunities to improve.

Important information about this website

finder.com.au is one of Australia's leading comparison websites. We compare from a wide set of major banks, insurers and product issuers.

finder.com.au has access to track details from the product issuers listed on our sites. Although we provide information on the products offered by a wide range of issuers, we don't cover every available product. You should consider whether the products featured on our site are appropriate for your needs and seek independent advice if you have any questions.

Products marked as 'Promoted' or "Advertisement" are prominently displayed either as a result of a commercial advertising arrangement or to highlight a particular product, provider or feature. Finder may receive remuneration from the Provider if you click on the related link, purchase or enquire about the product. Finder's decision to show a 'promoted' product is neither a recommendation that the product is appropriate for you nor an indication that the product is the best in its category. We encourage you to use the tools and information we provide to compare your options and find the best option for you.

The identification of a group of products, as 'Top' or 'Best' is a reflection of user preferences based on current website data. On a regular basis, analytics drive the creation of a list of popular products. Where these products are grouped, they appear in no particular order.

Where our site links to particular products or displays 'Go to site' buttons, we may receive a commission, referral fee or payment.

We try to take an open and transparent approach and provide a broad based comparison service. However, you should be aware that while we are an independently owned service, our comparison service does not include all providers or all products available in the market.

Some product issuers may provide products or offer services through multiple brands, associated companies or different labelling arrangements. This can make it difficult for consumers to compare alternatives or identify the companies behind the products. However, we aim to provide information to enable consumers to understand these issues.

Providing or obtaining an estimated insurance quote through us does not guarantee you can get the insurance. Acceptance by insurance companies is based on things like occupation, health and lifestyle. By providing you with the ability to apply for a credit card or loan we are not guaranteeing that your application will be approved. Your application for credit products is subject to the Provider's terms and conditions as well as their application and lending criteria.

Please read our website terms of use for more information about our services and our approach to privacy.